Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan Faces Leadership Challenge, Ben Carroll Eyes Premiership
Victorian Labor Premier Jacinta Allan has written to party state secretary Steve Staikos asking the party to prepare for a leadership ballot and indicating she will stand as a candidate if a spill occurs. A cross‑faction delegation of MPs told her she has lost majority support in the caucus and urged her to resign.
Deputy Premier Ben Carroll is widely seen as the most likely challenger and has signalled he will contest the leadership. The party’s factional conveners met on a Sunday night and resolved to move against Allan’s leadership, setting the stage for a possible spill as early as the Tuesday caucus meeting after the parliamentary winter break.
The crisis comes amid polling that shows Labor trailing the Coalition and One Nation ahead of the state election scheduled for 28 November 2026. The government is also under pressure over the $109 billion “Big Build” infrastructure program, alleged to involve $15 billion in excess costs, criminal infiltration by the CFMEU and a secret June 2023 briefing warning Allan of these risks. Allan has resisted calls for a royal commission into the scandal, while some ministers have advocated for one.
Entities: Ben Carroll · Big Build · Big Build · CFMEU · Jacinta Allan · Steve Staikos · Victorian Labor Party · Victorian Parliament
Claims
What the coverage asserts, and how well corroborated each claim is across sources.
- [● 5 SOURCES] The leadership dispute occurs weeks before the Victorian state election scheduled for November 28, 2026. (All)
- [● 5 SOURCES] The “Big Build” infrastructure projects have been linked to alleged $15 billion in excess costs and corruption investigations. (All)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Victorian Labor factional conveners resolved to move against Premier Jacinta Allan's leadership. (All)
- [● 2 SOURCES] A leadership spill could be triggered as early as the Tuesday after the parliamentary winter break. (All)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Jacinta Allan wrote to state secretary Steve Staikos requesting preparation for a leadership ballot and announced her intention to stand. (All)
- [● 4 SOURCES] Deputy Premier Ben Carroll is expected to contest the leadership and is seen as Allan’s most likely replacement. (All)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Polling ahead of the November 28 state election shows Labor trailing the Coalition and One Nation. (All)
- [● 5 SOURCES] Jacinta Allan has resisted calls for a royal commission into the Big Build scandal. (All)
- [● 3 SOURCES] A confidential briefing dated 21 June 2023 warned Jacinda Allan about CFMEU takeover and criminal infiltration of the Big Build, which she later claimed she was unaware of. (articles 7a2f70ec-3077-4cb5-ba99-fd35e446abbd, 7be04173-cef2-496b-a09f-5bcab754924b, 62cc502d-2008-43ca-b1f3-3316cbf2624)
- [● 3 SOURCES] The $109 billion Big Build infrastructure program is alleged to involve $15 billion in excess costs and has been linked to CFMEU infiltration and criminal activity. (articles 7a2f70ec-3077-4cb5-ba99-fd35e446abbd, 7be04173-cef2-496b-a09f-5bcab754924b, 62cc502d-2008-43ca-b1f3-3316cbf2624)
- [● 3 SOURCES] Jacinta Allan wrote to Victorian Labor state secretary Steve Staikos requesting preparation for a leadership ballot and indicating her intention to stand as a candidate. (articles 00be9d23-8e16-4386-a93f-3a893f6810d9, e0a60b56-94f0-49ed-aaba-295342e0bb89, 82abf925-17d5-48d9-ab25-3d5dd6fea55)
- [● 2 SOURCES] Mid‑July polls show Labor’s primary vote at about 27 % and trailing the Coalition and One Nation ahead of the 28 November 2026 state election. (articles 7ff7a8d3-adfe-40a7-9a16-5280c5f7a89d, 82abf925-17d5-48d9-ab25-3d5dd6fea55b)